Metallic leaf



Dec. 12, 1944.

INVENTQR 0mm 40. or

ATTOR EY Patented Dec. 12, 1944 METALLIC LEAF Donald D. Swift, Hartford, Conn., assignor to M. Swift & Sons, Inc., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 27, 1939, Serial No. 306,248

6 Claims.

My present invention relates to an improved gold or metallic leaf suitable for use in roll form on a carrier for imprinting ornamentation on leather, cloth or other surfaces.

It is customary to utilize gold or metallic leaf ribbon in roll form for stamping, embossing, and ornamenting compressible surfaces such as leather, cloth and the like, in order to reduce the number of operations required, to facilitate the application of metallic leaf to delicate material, and to place the metallic leaf and the sizing therefor in a convenient sales package that does not require incessant care and attention. The metallic leaf ribbon in roll form includes a carrier strip of glassine paper or other suitable material, having a releasable coating of a combined adherent and burnishing agent such as beeswax, on which a layer of the gold or other metallic leaf is placed, a sizing of varnish, either clear or pigmented, being coated on the layer of gold or metallic leaf.

This roll is then fed under a hot stamping die which pushes down on the carrier strip and causes the wax to melt and thus release the gold directly beneath the die, the pressure of the die cutting the gold in the shape of the die and pressing it onto the surface to be ornamented. It is therefore necessary that the gold be of sufiicient thinness to break easily and sharply beneath the die, the usual form of gold used for this purpose being beaten gold.

In beating, a square of gold is placed between two pieces of goldbeater's skin and beaten until it is stretched to a five or six inch square; it is then cut up into quarters and each piece is again beaten and again out up and then again beaten, the process being repeated until the gold is stretched substantially to its elastic limit, and is approximately .0000035 inch in thickness. Inasmuch as the beating process results in an uneven thickness and coloration of the gold, because of the presence of alloying material, the final product is not uniform, and the color of the object being imprinted and the color of the material affects the color of the gold. Different stamping effects are therefore obtained by using a light gold of about 16 carats on certain types of work, a dark gold of about 23 carats for other types of work, other shades of gold between the light and the dark being available by using intermediate carats between 16 and 23.

Beating the gold to the desired thinness occasionally spoils some of the gold by rupturing it i sizing or by welding the gold to a silver backing, as the silver is less malleable than the gold and will stand up better under the beating operation to form a firm base for the gold. The gold and silver are either welded together or the gold may be electro-plated onto the silver, the composite bar being beaten in the usual manner to produce a thin leaf, preferably of about silver and 30% gold by thickness. Inasmuch as thejprice of silver is much lower than that of gold it is evident that a substantial saving can be effected.

The welding or plating of gold on silver, however, develops a new problem whenever the'gold is reduced to too thin a layer, the bright silver then showing through and making light gold seem even lighter in appearance and dark gold seem light. Thus, the rich effect produced byusing 'between 16 and 23 carat gold does not show up in the final product under such circumstances.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a novel metallic leaf having a silver backing, thus effecting a substantial saving, thelbacking adding strength and uniformity to the final beaten leaf, and maintaining the color of the gold in the shade desired.

With the above and other. objects and advantageous features in view, the invention consists of a novel method of manufacture and a novel product more fully described in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more .specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

The drawing is a perspective view of ametallic leaf made in accordance with the invention.

In manufacturing the novel product, a strip of silver I is welded or plated to a strip of dark gold 2, which may be approximately 23 carat; a strip of light gold 3, preferably of about 16 carats is then Welded or electro-plated to the dark gold 2. The preferred proportion of the various metals by thickness (not Weight) are silver 70%, dark gold 5%, and light gold 25%. The composite strip is then beaten in the conventional manner until the final product reaches the desired thinness, down to .0000035 inch. The resultant product is a layer of light gold backed by a strip of silver, the light gold being separatinto bars and machinedto obtain a close fit and cleansurfaces. They are then placed together, the dark gold being sandwiched between the silver and the lightgold, in the correct proportions suchas 0.26 inch of silver, .02 inch of dark gold, and .09. inch of light gold, to form a /8 inch composite bar.

The metals forming the composite bar are then wrapped in asbestos paper sheets and then in pure iron sheeting, to keep the heat in and to prevent the bars from shifting. The entire packet is placed in a furnace and heated to approximately 1500 F., and then the packet is placedin apress while still hot, and a pressure of about 5 tons per square inch is applied. This welds the three layers together in one operation; the layers will not strip or peel and the weld is substantiaL ly permanent due to diffusion between the silver and the gold.

The resultant product has substantial advantages.. It is possible to use up to 70% of silver, thus obtaining .a great saving in cost and giving the final product more body and sharper breaking under the die press. The thin strip of dark gold prevents the silver from changing the appearance of the light gold by screening the bright surface of the silver. The light gold therefore retains its original color and gives a permanent finish which is identical with the finish obtained by using a leaf of solid light gold.

The product of the present invention stands up better-under beating and largely eliminates defects found in beaten gold leaf, such as pinholes, foxy gold, and the like. Furthermore, the gold shade of the final product is more easily and inexpensively varied by varying the thickness of I the dark gold layer in proportion to the thickness of the light gold layer; it is preferred to retain the silverbacking at about 70% of the composite leaf.

The final composite leaf is suitable for use in roll form, with a carrier strip 5 of like,beeswax 4, and an outer sizing 6, either clear or pigmented. In preparing the roll leaf the light gold/surface 3 is placed adjacent the beeswax 4 or other releasable burnishing and adherent agent, and the outer sizing 6 is applied to the silver, whereby the silver is impressed on the imprinting surface and the light gold is exposed and burnished.

While I have described a specific material as a backing for the gold, illustrative percentages of metal, and a preferred method of welding, it is obvious that other metals or percentages of metal surface having similarphysical and chemical characteristics may be used instead and other welding or joining methods may be used, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention I as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A composite metallic leaf comprising a layer of light gold, 9. layer of silver, and an intermediatelayer of dark gold, the layer of light gold being approximately per cent, the layer of dark gold being approximately 5 per cent, and the layer of silver approximately '70 per cent, of the thickness of the leaf.

2. Ina metallic leaf roll having a carrier strip and a layer of releasable "composition thereon, a layer of metallic leaf comprising a layer of light gold, a layer of light metal, and an intermediate layer of dark metal, said layer of light gold being contiguous said layer of releasable composition, and a layer of sizing on said metallic leaf.

3. In a metallicleaf roll having a carrier strip and a layer of releasable composition thereon, a

paper or the Y gold, alayer of silver, and of dark gold, the layer of light gold being aplayer of metallic leaf comprising a layer of light gold, a layer of light metal, and an intermediate layer of dark gold, said layer of light gold being contiguous, said layer of releasable composition, and a layer of sizing on said metallic leaf.

4. In a metallic leaf roll having a carrier strip and a layer of releasable composition thereon, a layer of metallic leaf comprising a layer of light gold, a layer of silver, and an intermediate layer of dark metal, said layer of light gold being contiguous said layer of releasable composition, and a layer of sizing on said metallic leaf.

5. In a metallic leaf roll having a carrier strip and a layer of releasable composition thereon, a.

layer of metallic leaf comprising a'layer of light gold, a layer of silver, and an intermediate layer of dark gold, said layer of light gold being contiguous said layer of releasable composition, and

a layer of sizing on saidmetallic leaf.

6. In a metallic leaf roll having a carrier strip and a layer of releasable composition thereon, a layer of metallic leaf comprising a layer of light .an intermediate layer proximately 25 per cent, the layer of dark gold being approximately 5 per cent, and the layer of silver approximately per cent, of the thickness of the leaf, said layer of light gold being contiguous said layer of releasable composition, and a layer of sizing on said metallic leaf.

DONALD D. SWIFT. 

